Page 4 - The Origin and Evolution of PODS

PODS
Embarking on a project of the size and complexity
of PODS is certainly ambitious and has required a
great deal of planning and forethought, but the Loon
Foundation is used to taking on big challenges. None
of this would have come about if it hadn’t been
for the long journey we started back in 2012, when
what was then the Lagoon Society hosted the 1st
Sunshine Coast Biodiversity Summit. This three-
day event attracted over 100 stakeholders from all
walks of life, including many scientists specializing
in freshwater and marine research. Our goal was to
discuss how we could best conserve and enhance
biodiversity on the Sunshine Coast, and to create
a strategy for moving forward. This gathering of
minds led to the publication of the Sunshine Coast
Biodiversity Strategy (Evelyn and Jackson 2015). One
overriding conclusion was that there was a desperate
shortage of aquatic monitoring and research
throughout the Sunshine Coast, but particularly in
the Pender Harbour region.
The progress we have made over the past nine
years is indicative of the legendary spirit of Pender
Harbour. How many other small coastal communities
have come together to embrace building their own
Community Health Centre, their own Golf Course,
and establishing two of their own Provincial Parks?
We certainly could never have advanced this far
without the wholehearted support of so many
individuals, businesses, NGO’s, and charities who all
work tirelessly here to make this place so special.
PODS is our way of showing, yet again, just how
much we truly care for this region and are committed
to safeguarding the future for our children.
Everyone is more than welcome to join us on this
incredible voyage of discovery and exploration. With
the help of university students and academics, as
well as experts from around the world, we look
forward to exploring the diversity of species, habitats,
ecosystems, and cultures that make this wonderful
place so extraordinary. Equally, we need to celebrate
our good fortunes and pass this on to others in
typical Pender Harbour style through music, song,
and dance. Most importantly, we look forward to
working together as a community to determine how
best to protect and preserve our region’s unique
biological and cultural treasures in perpetuity.
How can any of us sit by and watch the consequences
of global warming, ocean acidification, and global
plastics pollution without trying to do something
about it? Too much is at stake if we fail to act now
and start to find solutions to these problems to give
hope for our future generations.
COVID-19 is the worst global pandemic in over a
century, and it has severely challenged all of us.
For many people it has been the first time they have
realized just how fragile life on this planet really is,
and this has led to some extraordinary changes in
our view of the world.
There is now widespread evidence that millions of
people turned overwhelming to nature for comfort
and solace and found that the freedom, exhilaration,
and understanding of the natural world is terrifically
therapeutic and helps us to cope better when we are
isolated from one other. Just one example of this is
that birdwatching increased in popularity enormously
around the world and the number of birders using
the eBird app more than doubled!
Listening to birds singing in the trees in the morning
sunshine or frogs croaking around the local pond
as the sun sets brings a sense of reassurance and
consolation to us and helps our peace of mind.
Nature is a great healer and it’s good for our hearts